Yeah, I've picked up on that in a couple of places since I drafted this post, though I have yet to see a reference for it. It wouldn't really change my theory much. Admiral Marcus could be the head of Section 31, or Section 31 might not figure into it at all, just some branch of Starfleet with nefarious motives.

Then again, if Gary Seven had been alive and manipulating events on Earth and throughout the Federation for 250 years, he certainly wouldn't have gone by the name Gary Seven that whole time. Maybe Seven is Admiral Marcus and Carol Marcus is his daughter. Total speculation, sure, but so is everything else.

Personally, I think Gary Seven as the founder and head of Section 31 makes perfect sense. Wouldn't be the first time Hollywood has taken a protagonist and turned them into an antagonist as time and tragedy or other forces have worn them down.

Also, I can't get over how much Peter Weller looks like Robert Lansing.

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Geez, Section 31 again.

Section 31 is a DS9 only product that nobody knows or cares about, especially not Abrams and Co.

I'm guessing the Klingons are the real villains of the film, along with these "Specialists," while Cumberbatch might be an anti-hero/villain that might have been screwed over by the Specialists. That, of course, assumes the Specialists are actually working for the Federation and not the Klingons.

I do think there's still some basis for the notion that Weller is a villain and Cummerbund is his henchman gone rogue. If only because:

Harrison does that Godfather 3/Matrix style helicopter shooting scene. The Matrix scene is the more important signifier as a reference, because part of Neo's job there was to be sure and not hit Morpheus, no? And we have reason to suspect Weller doesn't die in the shooting, which is dropping the ball a little bit if you're Harrison, isn't it? Unless he intentionally didn't hit Weller... and maybe Kirk also. Though the latter is based on my hunch that, like TDK and Skyfall, Harrison's capture will turn out to be part of his longer plan. So who knows?

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Was that Weller's voice in the trailer telling Kirk Starfleet isn't about vendettas? If so, he must survive the attack.

Weller's role may be deeper because:

First, Weller said in interviews that he had his own starship. If he's offed in Harrison's attack, all he did in the movie was sit at a desk and die. Is that Weller's ship seen by the moon? Is it the one that crashes into SF Bay? Second, there has to be some thematic reason for him being named Adm. Marcus, while Eve's character is Carol Marcus. If it doesn't matter to the story, Weller's character could've had any other name. The "family" theme. Carol has skin in the game. Does she have to face up to anything her dad did, and feel she has to set it right? Third, Harrison has a cause based on what he calls, "crimes" by the commanders. It could be Weller and others in the admirality do have something to hide, and want to stop Harrison not for the obvious reasons of terrorism, but to protect a coverup of some kind. Fourth, in the translation of the first 28 minutes of the film shown in Brazil, Weller says that getting Harrison is a manhunt, plain and simple. Just go out there, find him, and kill him. Get rid of the thug. Why? Because the more he does or the more he talks, it reflects on the admiralty?

How would a hero justify blowing up a Federation building in London? Then assassinating a gathering of Starfleet Command? Heroes generally take on the bad guys, while doing their best to protect the innocent.

If there's a conspiracy going on, and Harrison is trying to expose it... there are far cleverer, less indiscriminate ways to go about doing that.

Commit collateral damage and you've already become the very thing you set out to destroy.